Author Archive - Stone Soup

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Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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Writing Activity: biography, war, and the power of what is not said, with “My Story” by Yuthilcar Sokban, 12

Post Published May 20, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity Yuthilkar Sokban's story, simply titled "My Story," is about war. It starts in 1975, the year Yuthilkar was born and the year a group of people, the...
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Art Activity: Making pictures of your community, with ‘Local Houses’, by Khaled Abdulaziz Ateeg, 12

Post Published May 17, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity This photograph is of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. The buildings are made of brick or mud brick with white decorations made of white paint.
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Writing Activity: 4 projects to bring your (animal) characters to life

Post Published May 17, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity These writing activities are built around the story "Lone Wolf," published in the January/February 1985 issue of Stone Soup.
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Art Activity: expressing and recording feelings, with ‘Spring’, by Myra Nicolaou, 8

Post Published May 17, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity In a way, the new year really starts with spring. Spring is the time for planting the garden and cleaning house.
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Writing Activity: writing sequels, and increasing contrast, with “A Ride With Fate” by Robert Katzman, 12

Post Published May 17, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity “A Ride With Fate” is an emotionally powerful story about a boy who makes a couple of wrong decisions.
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Writing Activity: defining character with non-standard English, with “My Country and the Way to America”, by Huong Nguyen, 11 (a harrowing tale)

Post Published May 17, 2016 by William Rubel

This is one of the most extraordinary stories Stone Soup has published in its long history. This activity focuses on how to effectively use non-standard English to define your character.
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Art Activity: depicting people working, with ‘Harvesting Tea’ by Achinda Siriwardena, age 7

Post Published May 14, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Art Activity For the artist, every workplace is a separate world with its own unique environment of light, sound, smell, and activity, and each picture is a story in li...
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Writing Activity: unexpected perspectives, or the other side of the story, with “Blending In” by Jonathan Rosenbaum, 10

Post Published May 14, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity In "Blending In," by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Charlie is at camp where he is teased by Carl and Jeremy, as well as by other campers.
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Writing and Art Activity: illustrate your own story, with “The Adventures of Pumpkin and Seegartus” by Nicole Schmidt, 9

Post Published May 14, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing and Art Activity "The Adventures of Pumpkin and Seegartus" is about a friendship between two animals--a pony, Pumpkin, and a cat, Seegartus--both favorite pets ...
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Writing Activity: reward a likeable character, with “Doll Shop Magic” by Joanna Calogero, 13

Post Published May 11, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity This writing activity is based on a story by 13-year-old Joanna Calogero published in Stone Soup Magazine's September/October 1992 issue, and also inc...
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Writing Activity: make a fictional creature seem real, with “The Baron, the Unicorn, and the Boy” by Ogechi Cynthia Njoku, 12

Post Published May 9, 2016 by William Rubel

Introduction to this Stone Soup Writing Activity Ogechi's story, The Baron, the Unicorn, and the Boy, is about an ordinary boy, Albert, and how he is rescued from the boredom of a school outing by a d...
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Free Verse and Kids’ Poetry

Post Published August 8, 2015 by William Rubel

Most of the poetry we publish in Stone Soup is free verse. Free verse is the most prose-like form of poetry. It is very popular amongst adult poets and it is also very common in American schools.
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Join the Stone Soup Social Media Team

Post Published July 23, 2015 by William Rubel

Contact William Rubel: william@stonesoup.com Stone Soup was founded in 1973. Through our magazine, Stone Soup, and through anthologies of children's writing, we are the leading publishers of children'...
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Poem by a Child, Age 12, Published in 1913 in St. Nicholas Magazine

Post Published May 30, 2015 by William Rubel

This poem, A Song Of Home, is a poem written by a child age 12. Originally published in 1913 in the children's magazine St. Nicholas it is a poem from another time.
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Writing Activity: Adapting Story to Film

Post Published May 25, 2015 by William Rubel

I found a project through Twitter for teaching students to think like a filmmaker. The project, for grades 6 to 8, is written by Judy Storm Fink and is published at the NCTE website, readwritethink...
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Teaching Detail in Creative Writing by Kids: Observational Writing

Post Published May 21, 2015 by William Rubel

In the Collected Maxims of the German writer, W. G. Sebald (1944 –2001), he is credited with offering this advice to writers: ‘Significant detail’ enlivens otherwise mundane situations.
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Historic Photography by Kids

Post Published May 20, 2015 by William Rubel

The Kodak box camera, first produced in the 1880s, became the iconic camera for the amateur photographer. The camera was as easy to use as our phone camera's. Point and shoot.
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Creative Writing Formulas for Teachers

Post Published April 20, 2015 by William Rubel

I recommend this blog post, What Kids Have Taught Me About Writing, by children's book author Kathleen McCleary. Those of us who read a lot of writing by children produced in schools -- and I certain...
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Jahan Raymond, Pianist

Post Published February 18, 2014 by William Rubel

Jahan Raymond is an American composer living in Los Angeles, California. He performs "Starchier," a piece first published in Stone Soup. Jahan was nine when he wrote the piece in December, 2011.
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Using Stone Soup to encourage students to produce inventive, creative writing

Post Published October 20, 2009 by William Rubel

Creative writing, as a term, was invented in the 19th century to express the idea that there was writing, and then there was creative writing. With use, the expression has lost meaning and now creativ...
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